NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="kerleth" data-source="post: 6045848" data-attributes="member: 84383">I think it depends on the background. I don't think you should have to wait to 5th level or earn via roleplaying the commoner title. Now the background trait that gets you help from other commonfolk? That I could see. One take is that a "knight" could be someone who is respected as an aspirant but has not passed the true "Tests of Knighthood". You then adventure and roleplay through those, adding story awards as appropriate. My impression of the backgrounds is that they are hooks to get you to do that roleplaying. For many people getting that starting kernel of an idea is the hard part. It might be cool to add traits like servants for becoming a noble, the respect and help of the commonfolk, entrance into a guild, etc. as story awards. In reference to specialties. You DO work towards them. You've just started learning the tricks at 1st level and get better and better as you practice that skill set. This is modeled by the feats gained at higher levels. I realize that this is very much a playstyle thing, but I like a little complexity at low levels. If the system is very improv friendly (and Next seems like it is to me) than you certainly can do with more basic characters though. Myself, I like playing Advance Wars, Magic: The Gathering, and Final Fantasy. I hate when you have to grind through the "boring levels" of a video game before things get more interesting. Though they are a very different experience I want customization and strategy from the get go in my tabletop rpg's as well. To me it's a sweet spot you have to hit. There is a range and less than that is boring and more is a headache. I would DM a lot in 3E and it wasn't uncommon to roll up characters above 1st level for a short adventure. I don't know how many times I heard "I wanna be a wizard, but picking all those spells is gonna be a headache, so I'll just play a barbarian."  As I said it is very much a playstyle thing but I am 100% for the backgrounds. Not just as a skill delivery system, but ESPECIALLY because of the backstory, traits, and hooks they provide. Prestige classes I could take or leave, but that is as much a balance and multiclassing issue as anything else.</blockquote>

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